What Are Loyalties to You, Anyway?
by Cherreh and Stormeh
Summary: Leafpool's secret about Crowfeather is now revealed.... And, as far as Eclipsedpaw and Mosspaw are concerned, why do their parents have to be a certain WindClan deputy and a certain ThunderClan medicine cat? And why them, of all the ThunderClanners?
1. Allegiances

What Are Loyalties to You, Anyway?

**A/N: Let's see... I own the _Warriors_ and _New Prophecy_ series, mmm-hmm... Yeah, you keep believing that. XDD I am enjoying writing this story, so please read and review to let me know what you think about it. :D Ideas and suggestions will all be taken into consideration.**

**Oh, and just so you don't freak out, I will admit... Any names that you haven't heard of in the books (i.e., Eclipsedpaw, Mosspaw, Skypaw, etc.) are mine, but the rest, even with changed names (i.e., Firestar, Hawkfrost, Weaseltail, Smokewisp, Talontail, etc.) are Erin Hunter's cats, not mine. :)**

**Stormeh**

**Allegiances**

_**THUNDERCLAN**_

**LEADER- FIRESTAR–**handsomeginger tom with a flame-colored pelt

**APPRENTICE, MOSSPAW**

**DEPUTY- BRAMBLECLAW–**dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes

**APPRENTICE, ECLIPSEDPAW**

**MEDICINE CAT- CINDERPELT–**dark gray she-cat

**APPRENTICE, LEAFPOOL–**light brown taby she-cat with amber eyes

**WARRIORS- **(toms, and she-cats without kits)

**SANDSTORM–**pale ginger she-cat

**APPRENTICE, MOSSPAW**

**CLOUDTAIL–**long-haired white tom

**BRACKENFUR–**golden brown tabby tom

**THORNCLAW–**golden brown tabby tom

**BRIGHTHEART–**white she-cat with ginger patches

**FERNCLOUD–**pale gray (with darker flecks) she-cat with green eyes

**SQUIRRELFLIGHT–**dark ginger she-cat with green eyes

**APPRENTICE, SWIFTPAW**

**ASHFUR–**pale gray (with darker flecks) tom, dark blue eyes

**RAINWHISKER–**dark gray tom with blue eyes

**SOOTFUR–**lighter gray tom with amber eyes

**SPIDERLEG–**long-limbed black tom with brown underbelly and amber eyes

**APPRENTICE, FROSTPAW**

**BIRCHSTRIPE–**brown tabby tom

**RUNNINGSTREAM–**dark brown tabby she-cat

**COUGARNOSE–**ginger tom with a brown nose and amber eyes

**APPRENTICE, SKYPAW**

**APPRENTICES-** (more than six moons old, in training to become warriors)

**MOSSPAW–**dark gray she-cat with brown tabby stripes and a brown tabby-striped mask on her face

**ECLIPSEDPAW–**brown tabby tom with white paws, with the exception of his left hind paw

**SWIFTPAW–**dark gray tabby tom with amber eyes

**FROSTPAW–**white she-cat with green eyes

**SKYPAW–**black tom with a white patch on his chest

**QUEENS- **(she-cats expecting or nursing kits)

**SORRELTAIL–**tortoiseshell and white she-cat with amber eyes

**OWLFEATHER–**black she-cat with green eyes

**WHITEFROST–**white she-cat with green eyes

**ELDERS- **(former warriors and queens, now retired)

**LONGTAIL–**pale tabby tom with dark black stripes, retired early due to failing sight

**MOUSEFUR–**small dusky brown she-cat

**DUSTPELT–**dark brown tabby tom

_**SHADOWCLAN**_

**LEADER- BLACKSTAR–**large white tom with huge jet black paws

**DEPUTY- CEDARHEART–**dark gray tom

**MEDICINE CAT- LITTLECLOUD–**very small tabby tom

**APPRENTICE, RAINPAW**

**WARRIORS-**

**OAKFUR–**small brown tom

**TAWNYPELT–**tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes

**APPRENTICE, LONGPAW**

**TALONTAIL–**dark brown tom

**QUEENS-**

**SMOKEWISP–**dark gray she-cat

**ELDERS-**

**RUNNINGNOSE–**small gray and white tom, formerly the medicine cat

**ROWANCLAW–**ginger tom

_**WINDCLAN**_

**LEADER- ONESTAR–**brown tabby tom

**APPRENTICE, GROUSEPAW**

**DEPUTY- CROWFEATHER–**dark gray, almost black tom with blue eyes

**MEDICINE CAT- BARKFACE–**short-tailed brown tom

**WARRIORS-**

**TORNEAR–**tabby tom

**WEBFOOT–**dark gray tabby tom

**WHITETAIL–**small white she-cat

**WEASELTAIL–**dark gray tabby tom

**QUEENS-**

**OWLTALON–**light gray (with darker flecks) she-cat

**ELDERS-**

**MORNINGFLOWER–**tortoiseshell she-cat

**RUSHTAIL–**light brown tom

_**RIVERCLAN**_

**LEADER- LEOPARDSTAR–**unusually spotted golden tabby she-cat

**DEPUTY- MISTYFOOT–**gray she-cat with a silver-tinged muzzle and blue eyes

**MEDICINE CAT- MOTHWING–**dappled golden she-cat

**WARRIORS-**

**HAWKFROST–**dark brown tabby tom with a white underbelly and ice-blue eyes

**APPRENTICE, MAPLEPAW**

**HEAVYSTEP–**thickset tabby tom

**STONECLAW–**gray tom

**APPRENTICE, BRIARPAW**

**VOLEWHISKER–**darkbrown tabby she-cat

**QUEENS-**

**SWALLOWTAIL–**dark tabby she-cat

**ELDERS-**

**MOSSPELT–**tortoiseshell she-cat

**DAWNFLOWER–**pale gray she-cat

**BLACKCLAW–**smoky black tom

_**CATS OUTSIDE OF CLANS**_

**SMOKY–**muscular gray and white tom who lives in a barn near the horseplace

**DAISY–**she-cat with long creamy brown fur who lives with Smoky

**FLOSS–**small gray and white she-cat who lives with Smoky and Daisy

**SUNFLOWER–**creamy brown she-cat with gray patches that lives with Daisy


	2. Secrets Revealed

CHAPTER ONE

"So what!"

A little tom apprentice stood in front of the ThunderClan apprentices' den, fur ruffled and fluffed, a she-cat cowering behind him.

"You have no right!" the tom apprentice spat. His fur was tabby-patterned and he had white paws, all except for his left hind paw, and the she-cat's was dark gray, almost a black color, with beautiful tabby markings all over her back and a mask-like pattern on her head that tapered off down her back, ending at her shoulder blades. Both of the cats had beautiful ice-blue eyes, but the she-cat's right eye was a stunning amber.

A huge tom stood in front of them. He had ginger tabby fur and broad shoulders, and seemed to be only a few moons older than they were.

"Oh, but I do, because I am a worthy ThunderClan warrior," the ginger tom snarled. "You two are just foxdung."

"I am not, Cougarnose!" the young apprentice meowed back, though he was losing his edge, and his flinch from the larger tom was beginning to show. "I…we…we didn't do anything…."

"Neither did anyone else, did they, Eclipsedpaw?" Cougarnose taunted. "Now, get to work on changing the elders' bedding."

Eclipsedpaw milled things over in his head. Cougarnose was Brambleclaw's son, his and Squirrelflight's, and Brambleclaw was the deputy of ThunderClan now. But his mother and father…. He sighed as the thought hit him. Why did his parents have to be a certain ThunderClan medicine cat and a certain WindClan deputy?

"_Crowfeather!" the she-cat cried out painfully, spasms racking her body. "I-I can't do it!" she gasped._

_The medicine cat couldn't save herself._

_Crowfeather's blue eyes were clouded with pain, focused on his love. "Leafpool…."_

_Suddenly, a WindClan patrol and a ThunderClan she-cat were running down the slope into the tiny clearing that Crowfeather and Leafpool were in that was beside the lake._

_The WindClan cats picked up speed, but the gray ThunderClan cat's limp was agonizingly slow. But Crowfeather knew they shouldn't get to them soon…._

_All too soon, the WindClan cats thrust Crowfeather away from the she-cat. Tornear stared hard at him. "What's going on here?" he hissed. "Cinderpelt—" he flicked his tail at the ThunderClan she-cat, who had reached Leafpool's side—"says she, Leafpool, loved you."_

_Crowfeather's eyes narrowed. "Loved her?" he spat. "Who do you think I am? A disloyal cat like her?"_

_Tornear stepped back. "Very well," he meowed. "You can explain yourself to Onestar. I'm sure he'll like your…excuses."_

_Crowfeather flinched. He had wanted to be deputy so very badly…but that dream was fading. Finally, he broke down._

"_I loved her," he whispered, and Tornear, who was stalking away, whipped back around._

"_What?" he hissed, lashing his tail. "What did you say?"_

_Crowfeather lifted his blue gaze defiantly. "I love her," he meowed louder. "Is there a problem?"_

_Tornear's lip curled into a snarl. "I knew it!" he hissed. "All those days you'd come creeping back into camp smelling of lake water and faintly of ThunderClan! I did! Wait till Onestar hears about this!"_

_He stood by the tom's side as Leafpool gave a blood-curdling wail and then lay still. Two tiny kits lay at her side, one dark gray with light tabby stripes and the other a tabby like Leafpool._

"_No…" Cinderpelt stood, distraught, over Leafpool. She bowed her head low. "You WindClan cats can take your warrior and patrol back home. Quickly."_

_Crowfeather knew what she was thinking of: Silverstream. Feathertail had told him about the medicine cat trying to save her mother, or what her father had told her of the incident._

_The WindClan cats whipped around and dragged Crowfeather away from the dead medicine cat. "No, no…Leafpool!" he wailed as he was dragged off into the night._


	3. The Prophecy Retold

CHAPTER TWO

**A/N: Hope you're enjoying the story. Thanks to Tigerstripe for reviewing:D And to answer that...well, you wouldn't want everything revealed in the first chapter, would you? ;) To everyone else: read and review!**

"Mosspaw!"

From inside of the apprentices' den sat a dark gray she-cat with brown tabby stripes. She lifted her mask-marked head and smiled as she saw who was waiting for her.

"Skypaw!" she mewed joyfully. She leapt to her paws and stopped at the passage between the apprentices' den and the outside camp. "What are you doing here?"

The black tom smiled. "Rescuing you from boredom, of course," he purred. "Come on."

He turned and padded towards the camp exit. Mosspaw followed him closely.

"Where're we going?" she asked after they had left the camp's safety.

"You'll see," Skypaw meowed. "You'll love it–just you wait."

They had left the sanctuary of the forest and had found a shallow pool of water along the edge of the lake bank before Skypaw stopped. He stared hard down into the water. After a moment, his eyes widened with surprise and his paw dipped quickly down into the water. When it came up, a shelled creature was on the end of his claws. It was no bigger than his paw, but its head and legs stuck out of the shell piteously.

Mosspaw laughed. "What's _that_?" she asked when she had regained some of her breath.

Skypaw had let it sit on the ground and was poking its shell each time its head came out of it. "It's called a turtle," he meowed, "or that's what Cougarnose told me, anyway. He says they're scared of everything, which is why they have a shell."

Mosspaw nodded with a smile. "Thanks for the lesson, furball," she meowed, giving the turtle a push with her paw so much as to make it slide on the bank and stop at the edge of the water and the mud. Skypaw gave it a last push and it dropped into the water. The head immediately shot out of the shell and the turtle swam down into its murky shallow depths.

"I'm no furball!" Skypaw meowed mock-indignantly. "That's...you!" He cuffed her ear and darted into the forest.

Mosspaw began to follow, but was sidetracked by the little pool that they still hadn't left. She tilted her head slightly as she stared down into it.

Suddenly, the pool turned red, and a fiery red cat stood in it. He appeared to be bleeding into the pool...and a huge shadow stood over him, bringing the death blow down with a huge paw. As the scene continued, the focus became more clear, and the cat was...

"Firestar!" Mosspaw gasped. "No!"

She moved away from the pool as quickly as she could, shivering.

_What could that mean?_ she wondered fearfully. _Why...who...Oh, Firestar..._

"Hey, Mosspaw, are you coming?" Skypaw stood at the edge of the forest, flicking his black tail.

Regaining her composure, Mosspaw stopped shivering and nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready," she meowed, following him.

"_StarClan have always got a prophecy to tell us," the gray she-cat meowed, "but this one...it makes no sense, Firestar!" Cinderpelt looked frantic. "I don't understand!"_

"_What was the prophecy, Cinderpelt?" the ginger tom asked, looking around her den. "The exact words, if you can remember it that way."_

_Cinderpelt brought her gaze up to match Firestar's. "_Before there is peace, blood will spill blood, and the lake will turn red_," she recited. "That's exactly what it was. But...I don't understand it!"_

"_The lake will turn red," Firestar mused. "Quite interesting..." He stood. "Well, we shall be ready for anything that falls upon us, won't we, Cinderpelt?"_

_Cinderpelt gave an anxious nod. "I suppose so," she agreed. "But Firestar, what if we don't?"_

_Firestar padded out of Cinderpelt's den, letting her last statement fall quite hard into his thoughts. He stopped and gazed up at the starts. "I'm not sure what will happen, Cinderpelt," he meowed quietly when the she-cat reached his side. "But I do know that this prophecy wasn't shared with all cats: most likely the ones who deserved to hear it. So keep an eye out and an ear open for any cat who says they've heard of it before."_

_Cinderpelt nodded and looked back up at the stars. One star blazed brightly in the night sky. Cinderpelt watched Firestar disappear into his stone den, then dipped her head to the sky. "Give me signs, Yellowfang," she whispered. "Give me some signs."_


End file.
